SEPTEMBER
Welcome Back Tea (1st day): The PTA hosts a tea for all parents to welcome them to the new year and to provide an opportunity to meet new parents or reconnect with returning ones.
Fall Family Night (Pizza Dinner): This is where we come together to celebrate the beginning of the school year with pizza and great conversation. In addition to connecting up with each other, this is a fun way to see some teachers outside the classroom while they help volunteers serve up dinner.
OCTOBER
Walk to School Week: During this weeklong national event, PTA coordinates with the City of Kirkland, to provide awareness about pedestrian safety and alternatives to getting to school. The week culminates in a celebration of the students who participated in the week-long event.
Jog-a-thon: This is Ben Franklin’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Funds raised from this event provide additional art and science in the classroom, a variety of assemblies, drama and choir, Kid’s First News, library books, additional supplies for your child’s classroom and the many other programs that supplement and enhance our children’s education and build a family atmosphere at our school.
Scholastic Book Fair: This is an annual fall event run by the school librarian and supported by the PTA. This event allows families to purchase books with a percentage of the sales going back into the purchasing of books for the library.
Reflections: The Reflections program is a National PTA and Washington State PTA cultural arts competition. The purpose of this program is to provide an opportunity for students to creatively express themselves through their own original works of art created around a specific theme. Students can submit visual artwork, photography, music composition, dance and literary works.
NOVEMBER
Skate King Night: Once each year, the PTA reserves Skate King for an evening of family fun. Yet another way, PTA promotes connectedness while having fun and being active. Please note: This event date changes from year to year. It could even be held in the spring depending upon scheduling.
DECEMBER
School Choir: Up to 100 students are offered the opportunity to sing in the school choir, led by the music teacher. The program culminates in a several performances in December for both the Franklin community and a combined show with the entire Lake Washington High School learning community.
JANUARY
School Play: This program is traditionally a week-long workshop taught by a contracted theatre group. At the end of the week, the students perform a subset of the play to their fellow classmates and then have two evening performances of the full play for the community.
School Dance: April 2011 was the first time in many years that the school had a family dance. It was a huge hit. This event is co-produced by the PE teacher and the PTA. The evening family dance is the complements the dance unit in PE that finishes that week. Thisyear the school dance is in January.
FEBRUARY
Bingo Night: This is the winter community event put on by the PTA. The Commons is filled with families trying to have the next “BINGO!!”. Wonderful prizes are donated by local businesses and many families..
MARCH
Science Fair: Children get to experience what being a scientist is really like in a fun and supportive environment. The intention of the Science Fair is for students K-6 to: conduct their own experiments or build their own inventions; have fun telling other kids and parents how their experiment worked; see other kids’ cool projects! This event helps foster a love for science in our community, giving students the opportunity to present their experiments and to learn from each other’s projects. APRIL
International Night: This event provides the opportunity for our community to celebrate the diverse cultures represented at our school. Families host booths showcasing a country important to their heritage. Children, using their passport as their guide, visit the countries to learn traditions specific to that country. There are cultural performances that frequently showcase students from the school.
MAYStaff Appreciation: The PTA joins with the Franklin community to show our teachers and staff how much we appreciate all they do everyday for our children. While every year has a new theme and new ways to show the teachers how special they are, the week always begins with the classroom door decorations and culminates in a luncheon prepared by families. The PTA draws on the community for donations and time to make this a successful event.
Volunteer Appreciation: This is a special ceremony hosted by the teachers and staff to celebrate and thank all of you for the work you do to support the school. The event traditionally included student performances and a presentation by the principal and staff.JUNE:
Pancake Breakfast: Also known as “Dads’ Breakfast since a group of dads don the aprons and man the griddles to serve breakfast before school starts that day.
This is a fun way to come together one last time as the school year winds down. It is a fun way to wind down the school year with the Ben Franklin community.
LWSF
THe LWSF (Lake Washington Schools Foundation) is having a luncheon fundraiser on April 20th, at Juanita High School